The Elden Ring Dragonlord Placidusax boss fight and location isn't easy to work out - the original Elden Lord is hidden somewhere in Crumbling Farum Azula, and finding him requires going backwards through time itself. One of the tougher encounters of Elden Ring, finding Placidusax is also integral to using Miquella's Needle after the Elden Ring Millicent questline, though you don't need to beat the boss fight for that particular reward - just finding the location of this King Ghidorah knock-off will be enough.
It's still worth beating him though, as there's great rewards waiting - plus, why are you playing Elden Ring if not to kill giant monsters? With all that in mind, we've put together this boss fight guide on how to beat Dragonlord Placidusax, including tips, weaknesses, strategies and rewards, as well as how to find Placidusax's location, what with the big drake being so tucked away and hard to find.
How to find Dragonlord Placidusax's location in Elden Ring
Dragonlord Placidusax is located in Crumbling Farum Azula, and to reach him requires these steps:
- Start at the "Beside the Great Bridge" Site of Grace.
- Head down the lift behind you.
- Go through the watery Temple full of beastmen outside to the cliffs.
- Go to the Southwestern edge of the cliffs and look down.
- Jump to the hard-to-see ledge halfway down.
- Jump down again to the floating rock beneath.
- Follow the path of floating rocks South to a curved platform before the tornado.
- In the central indentation will be a prompt to "Lie Down".
- Lie down and a cinematic will take you to the Placidusax arena.
While you're in Farum Azula, check out how to beat Maliketh in Elden Ring!
The tricky part here is finding the safe place to drop off the Southwestern cliffs - missing it means you'll likely fall too far and die from fall damage. Kill any enemies who might interfere, then take your time looking for the place to drop, turning the camera around to make sure you're seeing the ledge - it's a small one, partly concealed by the shape of the boulders around it (we've marked it just below for you to check).
Once you're down, take your time jumping safely from rock-to-rock - it's not hard, but failure means instant death, so don't mess it up. Eventually you'll reach the curved section of architecture floating before the giant tornado in the centre of Crumbling Farum Azula. It's full of little indentations with bones in - except for one just ahead of you. Approach it, select the prompt to lie down, and the cinematic will take you to Dragonlord Placidusax's arena.
This is why Placky is so hard to find - the Dragonlord has been dead for centuries, and this sacred place takes the player back in time to battle him. Don't worry - the fight doesn't start instantly, you're just placed in the arena with him waiting up ahead, only going aggressive when you get closer.
If you are out to use Miquella's Needle and cure yourself of the Lord of Frenzied Flame Ending, you can do it here and now - simply being in the past is enough. Otherwise, prepare yourself to fight the ominously-floating two-headed Elden Lord of times beyond.
How to beat the Dragonlord Placidusax boss fight in Elden Ring
Dragonlord Placidusax is a brutal boss fight, but here's some tips to help you against the strongest dragon in Elden Ring.
- Placidusax is weak to Piercing and headshots
- Protect yourself against Lightning and Fire
- Fighting at range is a dangerous game
- Stay right behind Placidusax for the best chance
- Summon tanky, durable allies
- Use the long cooldowns and wind-ups between attacks
- Stay alert for his teleportation and fast strikes
- Phase 2 enhances his AOE damage and teleportation
You can click on any of these tips or scroll down for more information, but it's worth mentioning that if you've done the Elden Ring Fia questline and ending before this, the optional final boss of that quest shares a lot of attack patterns and behaviours in common with Placky.
More specifically, this is a fight where you'll be fighting for time. Some bosses can be tackled aggressively and brought down fast, but the Dragonlord has a lot of health and forces you into a long fight, especially considering he doesn't have a lot of exploitable weaknesses. Though speaking of which…
Placidusax is weak to Piercing and damage to the head(s)
Placidusax has a weakness - though that's a pretty generous term - to Piercing damage, though it might be more accurate to say that he's not quite as resistant to it as anything else. Placky's resistance is very high on all attacks and especially status effects, but he's slightly less resilient to Piercing attacks (though not so much that we recommend upending your build in any major way).
More interestingly, Placidusax takes double damage on all hits to the head - either one. Problem is, that's not always viable, and hitting them puts you right in the firing line for all his biggest attacks. Ranged fighters should target them, but anybody else should only go for headshots when the opportunity presents itself. And of course, Placidusax being a big, slow target means multiple-projectile attacks like the Meteorite of Astel can do tons of damage, if you cast them close enough.
Armor up for protection against Fire and Lightning
Aside from the masses of physical damage Placky can deal out, the original Elden Lord also deals in a lot of Lightning attacks and the occasional Fire breath, so armor against these will be very helpful. However, it also makes good shields harder to find - this is a fight where evasion is the smarter bet, especially when he breaks out the giant attacks later on. Don't go above medium weight and use the invincibility frames on your rolls to pass through his worst strikes.
Ranged fighting is dangerous, as Placidusax is probably better at it than you
From the moment the fight starts, you want to close the distance between you and the Dragonlord, as Placidusax has all manner of high-power lightning attacks that cover great range, usually targeted in front of him. Melee attackers should head straight for him, trying to convince him not to use such moves, but Ranged attackers should stay close too, fighting at the short-to-mid range, using summons to hold his attention, and targeting the heads.
Get behind Placidusax, not his sides or front
There's no place you can take where Placky can't hit you, but the attack patterns he uses are less evil if you're right behind him, attacking his tail. His front is where he unleashes his most powerful attacks, but his sides are also prone to his quickest, nastiest strikes; wing swipes and sudden fire attacks that come with little warning. What attacks he has for those behind him tend to be telegraphed more and not quite so lethal (though they're still pretty tough).
Summon durable and tanky Spirits from Ashes that can take a beating
If you're summoning for this fight, it'll have to be through Ashes or online friends, as there's currently no NPCs available for this boss. Of those you do summon, you should aim for durable allies specifically - Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff is both appropriate and potent, or there's always the reliable Elden Ring Mimic Tear. Placky's attacks are complex and wide-reaching, so even the nimblest summon is probably going to get knocked around frequently - hence why you need durable, tanky friends who can soak it up while you focus on damage.
Make use of the long cooldowns and windups of the Dragonlord's attacks
Placidusax's moveset includes a lot of moves that come with a cooldown or a bit of a windup, as the Dragonlord is actually fairly bulky and needs run-up for his biggest moves. These are basically your opportunities to do real damage - play highly defensively, then run in and go for some free hits while Placky gets his breath back.
Watch out for Placidusax's teleportation and fast strikes
Placidusax might have a lot of wind-up to his attacks, but once they get going, he accelerates to dangerous speeds. Placky's capable of teleporting through stormclouds and will start to use complex combos where he disappears and reappears, striking at the player each time. He can also vanish, then teleport back while flying at full speed, trying to crash into the player when they're not expecting it. The moment you can't see Placidusax is the moment where you should get nervous and ready to dodge. Stormclouds will start to form in the location that he's about to appear in, your warning on what's about to happen.
Placidusax's phase 2 focuses on AOE and teleportation
Once at 50% health, Placidusax enters phase 2 - not a dramatic change, but definitely enhanced. He'll do both teleportation attacks listed above, as well as permanently changing his fire attacks into laser beams that sweep across the arena. These are very unpredictable in their movements, and one of those moments to go super defensive!
Finally, Placidusax also gains a new attack - a giant lightning spear that he raises up and plunges into the ground. This has a lot of warning, but it needs it - the AOE blast it creates is both far-reaching and deadly. The moment you see it coming, run!
Easy Dragonlord Placidusax cheese method
If you're finding Placidusax too difficult, we've seen success using the poison cheese method uncovered by Youtuber Glitch Unlimited. This method basically makes use of the fact that you can see Placidusax before you fight him, and you'll need the following:
- The Serpent Bow (obtained in the Abandoned Cave mentioned in our how to get the Elden Ring Golden Scarab guide)
- Lots of the following kinds of arrows:
- Serpent Arrows
- Poison Arrows
- Bloodbone Arrows
Once you enter the arena via the "Lie Down" command, don't approach Placidusax! With him floating ahead of you, equip the Serpent Bow and either the Serpent/Poison arrows and start manually targeting either of his heads/necks, sniping him from a distance. You'll be able to see his neck juddering and twitching if you're hitting him, as well as a distant health indicator. Despite being hurt, Placidusax won't attack, as you're still out of his trigger range.
Despite Placidusax being very resistant to Poison and Bleed, he's not immune - once you've used the Serpent and Poison Arrows to trigger the poison HP drain effect, switch to the Bloodbone Arrows and start working on inflicting chunks of bleed damage from a safe distance while the Poison works on slowly killing him. If the Poison runs out, switch back to those and set it up again.
Basically, this allows you to chip away Placidusax's health without ever having to fight him. It's slow, but it's definitely easier than getting batted around by scaly Thor for several days.
Dragonlord Placidusax Remembrance and rewards
For killing Dragonlord Placidusax you'll get a glut of 280000 Runes, as well as the Remembrance of the Dragonlord, which can be redeemed with Finger Reader Enia for either of these two prizes:
- Dragon King's Cragblade: A Heavy Thrusting Sword that does extra Lightning damage and scales to Str/Dex. It has a powerful unique weapon skill that allows you to turn into lightning and hit people ahead of you, as well as doing extra damage against dragon enemies on all attacks.
- Placidusax's Ruin: An Incantation that has the player turn into a draconic form and fire lightning and lasers from above. It can be aimed after firing and does serious damage, but takes up 3 Slots and costs 62 FP.
Of these two, both of them are very powerful, though clearly suited to different builds. Melee builds should aim for the Blade, while those who deal in Faith magic should gravitate towards the Incantation, obviously.
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